Our Souls at Night | BS Reviews

After the disappointment that was Our Souls at Night, it’s great to see director Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox) make a return to form and a return home to Mumbai. Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui; The Lunchbox) works as a photographer selling instant photos to tourists at the Gateway of India. He has a chance encounter with a young woman, Miloni (Sanya Malhotra; Dangal), who absentmindedly walks off before paying him for the photograph. As a man approaching middle age, Rafi is being pressured by his grandmother (Farrukh Jaffar; Swades) to get married. To appease her and hopefully put an end to her nagging, he sends her the photograph of Miloni, claiming that she is his girlfriend. Of course, this backfires when his grandmother immediately decides to visit to meet her and Rafi has to ask Miloni to pretend to be his girlfriend until she leaves.

There’s nothing surprising about where the plot goes, but the journey is still enjoyable. As Rafi and Miloni spend time together and learn more about each other as part of the ruse, they gradually become closer. Miloni is younger and grew up in a upper-class urban family so she finds Rafi’s village background to be a fascinating escape. In a culture where public displays of physical affection are rare, their progression is slow, but noticeable in the extra time they spend together. Batra mines these unspoken feelings for subtle, but palpable romantic longing.

It’s this gentle approach to storytelling that has defined Batra’s directing style. His characters speak in soft voices, always too polite to fully express themselves, and their reluctance to act on their desires makes them all the more likable. His style owes a great debt to the films of Wong Kar-Wai, but there is an importance difference. Wong’s films tend to come from a place of melancholy. His characters were in doomed romances destined to end before they ever truly begin. With Batra, there are hope and genuine warmth behind his lens.

Jaffar’s nagging is unexpected source of humor.

Siddiqui and Malhotra make an endearing main couple, but it is Jaffar that steals the show. Despite being an elderly woman, Jaffar is clearly in command. She is the stern matriarch that always has advice and criticisms to offer, whether or not her grandson wants to hear it. Her constant admonishment and unnecessarily loud speaking voice will give anyone who has had to deal with controlling relatives shivers. Yet, her inclusion adds a tragic nature to the romance. She wants the best for her grandson before she passes away but the joy she feels upon seeing Rafi and Miloni together also carries the heavy guilt that the relationship is an act. Her character brings some much needed energy and provides an additional wrinkle to their could-be pairing.

When the film comes to a close, some may be left unsatisfied. There is a stopping point rather than a traditional conclusion. Batra has his characters explicitly address why he felt conventional closure was unnecessary, but many will still find the ending too hasty. Batra has executed on his signature brand of romantic longing, but given the predictable plot and abrupt conclusion, Photograph is a successful, but minor work.

3/5 stars.

Netflix’s newest film continues their shaky track record when it comes to features. Based on the novel by Kent Haruf and directed by Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox), the film centers on two elderly people in the small fictional town of Holt, Colorado. Louis (Robert Redford; The Sting) and Addie (Jane Fonda; 9 to 5) have both lost their spouses years earlier and live alone. One afternoon, Addie visits Louis and makes a strange proposal. She wants him to sleep with her. Not anything more than that, just sleep. She is tired of being alone and wants someone to lay next to at night. What follows is their growing relationship and the effect it has on their humble lives.

It’s rare to see a cast this talented fall so flat. Seasoned and celebrated actors like Fonda and Redford, who have worked together onscreen before, completely lack the naturalism required. The soft-spoken, but straightforward dialogue of the book is mostly retained in the script, but is ruined by the delivery. If this was their feature debut, Fonda and Redford would not be getting calls from casting agents anytime soon. Their attempts at laconic delivery come off as awkward and surprised. They read their lines as if each statement is really a question and it kills any hope of establishing the mood required. The performances are so disconnected that if one actor had recorded their parts on a green screen and was later composited into the footage, I’d believe it. There are a few brief glimpses of the chemistry that could and should have existed, but the majority of the film is missing this vital ingredient.

The unfortunate lack of chemistry kills the movie’s emotional center.

Haruf’s novel was not the most obvious choice to adapt. At its core, it is a simple story without any of the trappings of typical movie. There are no villains, no major conflict, and no real stakes to speak of. The novel was a story of two lonely people near the end of their lives finding solace through companionship. What separated it from other books was its attention to detail. Haruf was able to capture the longing Louis and Addie had and the emptiness they felt without someone else in their lives. He knew the profound impact that a true emotional connection can have on a life and expressed it amidst the most modest of settings, but his work has been diluted in the film adaptation to the point of blandness.

None of Batra’s personal style is present here. His first two films took a gentle, compassionate approach to his characters and world which made him a perfect fit for this material, yet that approach is absent. The film is completely forgettable and misses the nuances of Louis and Addie’s relationship. The soft focus and earnest, but hushed speaking of his previous works are replaced by a flat production. Batra has put forth a workmanlike effort on what could have been his breakout feature. The obvious lack of interest behind the camera is a continual letdown as the movie settles for mediocrity. It may not be one of the worst films of the year, but it is certainly one of the most disappointing.

2/5 stars.

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Tag Archives: Our Souls at Night

Photograph (2019): Slight, but Affecting Romance

Our Souls at Night (2017): A Disappointing Waste of Talent

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